Actrix Newsletter March 2001

This newsletter has been produced to help you get the most out of the Internet,
and to keep you, as an Actrix customer, informed of developments and services within the company.
Past newsletters may be viewed at http://editor.actrix.co.nz/
Newsletters are now archived by article at http://editor.actrix.co.nz/byarticle/
Questions and comments about the newsletter can be emailed to editor@actrix.co.nz
Other inquiries should be emailed to support@actrix.co.nz

Monitoring Internet Usage on Your PC by Jeremy Fairbrass and Rob Zorn

There may be times or situations when you need to find out what websites have been visited on your computer, perhaps by other members of your household. You might even want to monitor web usage, e.g. if you want to keep track of what the kids are viewing. There are a few different ways to do this.

The first (and perhaps most obvious) method of checking previous internet usage is to view the computer's History information. Internet Explorer keeps a history of all websites visited, usually for the past 20 days by default, though this number can be re-set. Inside Internet Explorer, click on the Tools menu (or the View menu if you have an older version of IE) and select Internet Options. On the General tab you will see the History settings, which basically consists of "days to keep pages in history''. You can change the amount of days to keep a history there (or you can check to see if someone else has changed it.

You will notice, on the General Tab, that there are buttons there to delete your History or to delete your Temporary Internet Files. There is also a Settings button (on later versions of IE). Clicking this button will bring up the Settings box which will allow you to change a number of the particulars about how Internet explorer keeps a track of where it has been. One of the buttons is called "View Files." Clicking this button will usually bring up a list of all the files, images and cookies that have been downloaded by Internet Explorer during the latest history period. Clicking a few of these will give you some idea of where your browser has recently been. Internet Explorer doesn't always store all of its stuff here, though, so there are better and more reliable ways to check your History.

One way to view the History information, is to to open up the History folder which is located on your hard drive inside "My Computer." There are several places it might be found in, depending on what version of Windows you have.

Possibilities include:

Windows 95/98: C:\Windows\History
Windows 95/98: C:\Windows\Profiles\YourUsername\History
Windows NT/2000: C:\Winnt\Profiles\YourUsername\History
Windows 2000: C:\Documents and Settings\YourUsername\History

Inside this folder you'll see the History broken down into weeks and days, with a list of all the websites and pages visited within those weeks or days. Note: to view the History information of a Windows user other than yourself, you may need to actually log into Windows under their username, but this only applies if your PC has different user log-ins.

The downside of using the History folder is that individual websites (and in fact the entire contents) can easily be deleted from the list. Also, the History folder doesn't keep track of websites visited using other web browsers such as Netscape or Opera.

Probably the best way to track website usage is to download and install a piece of software to do it for you. There are a lot of different programs that can do this sort of thing, and most of them are targeted at the parent/guardian wanting to monitor their children's internet usage. Some of them track your PC's usage secretly and e-mail the results to an e-mail address you can specify. Some businesses use programs like this to secretly track what their employees are getting up to on the Internet, and some parents use these programs similarly. While it is illegal for employers to spy on their employees like this without their knowledge, it is probably quite legal for parents to do it for minors under their guardianship. However, the ethics of such spying, and decisions about legitimate and illegitimate use are beyond the scope of this article and newsletter. No doubt there are plenty of situations in which it is justified, and plenty in which it is not.

There is a large database of such programs at http://www.getnetwise.org/tools/ along with descriptions and comparisons - as well as similar programs that actually filter and block internet access under certain criteria. The main web site, http://www.getnetwise.org, also has a wealth of information on providing a safe Internet environment for families, and is recommended reading in our opinion!

For Internet users, there are two types of caches that are important. One is on your hard drive and the other is at your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Putting it really simply for this article, a cache (usually pronounced ("kaysh") is a storehouse of web files that a computer can use instead of having to download the same ones from somewhere further away on the Internet.

ISPs each have a cache and when you enter a web address into your browser (e.g. Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) your ISP directs your browser to the page you have requested. Your ISP's servers then do a quick check of that page, and then check their own cache which is stored locally. If the page you want is on the local cache, you will receive the page you wanted from your ISP's cache instead of from the web site you have requested. The reason for this, of course to save time for you and server traffic for your ISP.

When the server checks the page you have requested, it does a quick content comparison. If the page you have requested is different or has been updated, or if it has never seen that page before, it downloads the new version of the page to itself at the same time as it downloads it for you. This way it makes sure that it always has the latest content to give to the next person who requests the exact same page.

If you're not sure you trust the ISP's cache to be giving you the latest version of the page, you can add a command to your page request that tells your ISP's servers that you are not interested in their cache, but that you want your content straight from the source. To do this, once you have downloaded the page requested, hold the control key down on your keyboard and click the Refresh or Reload button in your browser's toolbar with your mouse. This adds the words "pragma no cache" to your web request, and your ISP's servers then ignore their own cache and download for you straight from the horse's mouth.

Your browser also works with a cache of its own. In Internet Explorer this cache is called your Temporary Internet Files. It is designed to work the same way as an ISP's cache. It checks the page it is downloading and if there is content from the same page with the same name in there, it will give you that content instead of from the source, but only if it is exactly the same, and again, for the purposes of saving time. Your browser also has a RAM cache. This means that it saves a portion of its memory to store Internet content in so that it can display it for you immediately. You'll notice this when you click the Back button through a series of previous pages and notice that they are there with no waiting at all.

You can play with your hard drive cache settings in Internet Explorer by clicking Tools/Options, and then the Settings button on the Internet Options box. There (in later versions of IE) you can set the size of your cache (the bigger you have it set, the more it can remember, but the more hard disk space it will absorb) view what's in it, and delete its content if you wish.

In Netscape Navigator 4.7 you can play with your cache settings by clicking Edit/Preferences and then Advanced/Cache. There you will find various settings as well as the directory pathway on your hard drive to where Navigator keeps its temporary Internet files.

In Opera 4, you can find your cache settings under File/Preferences, and then by clicking Cache in the left hand column.

Vatican Considers Isidore as Cybersaint: Pope John Paul is considering naming Saint Isidore of Seville the patron saint of Internet users and computer programmers, Vatican sources have announced. Saint Isidore was nominated two years ago, but the Holy See has yet to make a final decision. Saint Isidore, who lived in the seventh century, was believed to have written the world's first encyclopedia, the Etymologies, which included entries on medicine, mathematics, history and theology. Click the link below to learn more.

Smell-o-vision Soon to be a reality?: An Indian inventor said on Friday he had been given a U.S. patent for a device that would allow advertisements, movies and music to generate scents. Sandeep Jaidka, 37, said the small device could be attached to a television, computer or audio system. He said the patent granted last November involved digital signals synchronised with music or movie sequences and could be used to produce smells or weather-linked sensations. Click the link below to learn more.

Opera to release Mac version of "fastest browser" soon: Opera Software AS will release a Macintosh beta version of what it claims is "the fastest browser on earth" later this year and a final version by year's end. Opera version 5.0 for Mac is currently in alpha testing and will be "available soon" in a public beta version, according to Pal Hvistendahl, Opera communications manager. Opera 4 for Windows was reviewed in last month's newsletter. To find out more about Opera for the Mac, click the link below.

Experts Warn of Love Bug Variant: Infected 'love letters' are dropping back into inboxes once again as the recent spate of socially engineered viruses continues. This time, a modified version of the infamous Love Bug is doing the rounds, masquerading as an animated picture of someone's new baby. Antivirus experts have pointed out that the newly discovered 'Myba' virus is really just a modified version of the Visual Basic script that made up the Love Bug code and is identical in many ways. Click the link below to learn more.

Please note: Actrix supplies links to these sites for your interest and possible use. We cannot endorse or take any responsibility for their contents.

http://www.norton.com/

Symantec/Norton

This site is a great resource for virus and security issues. Under Tools and Downloads there is a heap of information and a host of download fixes for the various viruses around.

The High-Tech Dictionary

http://www.computeruser.com/
resources/dictionary/index.html

Search for definitions to more than 7,000 high-tech terms including emoticons, html tags and a whole lot more.

Netiquette!

http://www.albion.com/
netiquette

All the do's and don'ts of
online communication can be found here. Netiquette covers both common courtesy online and
the informal "rules of the road" of cyberspace!

http://www.dictionary.com/

This is a great site for all sorts of free dictionary related stuff. If you're into impressing people by using uncommon words, subscribe to their free "Word of the Day" e-mail list.

Resumania!

http://www.resumania.com/

How not to apply for a job - this site features a collection of real-life resume bloopers that will make you laugh, and then go carefully examine your own c.v.

time and date.com

http://www.timeanddate.com
worldclock/

This handy page displays the current date and time in a large number of the world's largest cities. Simply refresh to update.

http://www.books-on-line.com/

A searchable page that contains links to many books that are published online, mostly for free.

When Good Toilets Go Baaad!

http://home.att.net/
~toyletbowlbbs/toilets.htm

A collection of news articles about what happens when people and toilets don't get along. Also, when good toilets do bad things, when well-meaning toilet owners get out of hand, bathroom products that should have never left the inventor's garage and a whole lot more!

Learn Klingon Institute

http://www.kli.org

This is a great page for Trekkies who have enjoyed watching the Klingon race evolve from high-tech inter-stellar packrats into the noble, civilised society they are today. Learn to speak Klingon and impress your friends! Now, if only they'd do a similar site for The Borg...

The Great White Site

http://freespace.virgin.net/
kain.greatwhitesite/

This site has loads of information and pictures abut White Pointer sharks. It was put together by a real shark enthusiast who obviously loves his work.

Online Newspapers.Com

http://www.onlinenewspapers.com

This is a remarkable site with drop down links to an overwhelming number of newspapers online in countries all over the world, including 14 in New Zealand (and all the major ones)

New Zealand Gardens Online

http://www.gardens.co.nz/

A site full of links to all sorts of gardening resources for the New Zealand gardening enthusiast, including photos, articles, mail order and much more.

Once again I hope you have found the newsletter useful and interesting, if a tad late this month. Once again it has been a pleasure to produce. I enjoy your feedback and suggestions and encourage you to write in with any you have.

If you need help or support with Actrix or the Internet, though, you are best off e-mailing our support team at support@actrix.co.nz or calling them on 0800-228749. They have the tools and experience to help you, most of them much better than I.

If you haven't done the Epages survey yet, why not do so. Click the Epages logo below to be taken to the site. One lucky "filler-inner" will receive a bottle of champagne!

Epages would like to thank all those who have filled out the survey so far. The winner will be drawn during the coming week and will be contacted directly. He or she will also be announced in the next newsletter.